Umbrella



F. MARTINI March 27, 1951 UMBRELLA Filed Aug. 29, 1947 Pat enied Mar. 27, 1951 UMBRELLA Ferruccio Martini, Bronx, N. Y., assignor of onehalf to Julius Melnick, Bronx, N. Y.

Application August 29, 1947, Serial No. 771,274

2 Claims.

This invention relates to umbrellas.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an umbrella shield adapted to be suspended from the umbrella when it is raised and which is preferably made of transparent material so that a full view may be had by the user of the umbrella and at the same time the shield will extend sulficiently down over the body of the user of the umbrella to protect him or her from becoming splashed with rain entering beneath the sides of the umbrella as when there is wind as well as rain.

7 It is another object of the present invention to provide an umbrella shield which can be adjusted between raised and lowered positions by the user of the umbrella from the handle and by a device incorporated therein and wherein this device is so formed that when the shield is lowered a spring is tensioned and retained by a ratchet and upon release of the ratchet, the shield will be automatically extended to the raised position in a quick and expeditious manner so that the shield can be enclosed by the umbrella when the umbrella is lowered and wherein to form a compact package within the umbrella when it is not in use and yet form a part of the same at all times to be extended when desired.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide an umbrella shield for umbrellas including a device for operating the same, which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, convenient to use, automatic and eilicient in operation.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an umbrella and of the shield extended downwardly therefrom.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary and crosssectional view taken through the umbrella, the shield, in its raised position and the mechanism for effecting the raising and lowering of the shield about the periphery of the umbrella.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary and crosssectional view taken through the ratchet for retaining the shield in the lowered position and against the action of the spring for lifting the same.

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the central shaft of an umbrella in which is embodied a modified form of elevating mechanism for the umbrella shield, portions of the umbrella member being broken away to show the interior of the same.

Referring now to the figures, I!) represents the centralhandle support for an umbrella having the usual handle thereon and. a top l2 adapted to be held in the raised position by frame pieces l3 and M. The frame pieces I4 are connected to a slide l5 which is normally held in the raised position by a catch |6.

Attached to the outer portions of the umbrella, as indicated at H, is a shield or curtain l8 which can be retained either in a folded condition as indicated in Fig. 2 or in an extended condition as shown in Fig. 1 so as to house the person carrying the umbrella. Fastened to the frame pieces [3 are pulley elements l9 through which extend weighted cords 2| having respectively weights 22 on their lower ends and adapted to extend through rings 23 spaced vertically throughout the length of the shield Hi. When the cords 2| are lowered, the curtain or shield will be dropped downwardly to the extent to which the weights 22 have been dropped. The weights 22 will serve as handles by which the cords 2| can be pulled downwardly to automatically lower theshield I8.

This shield is made of light weight transparent material so that the vision of the user of the umbrella is little perturbed.

On the handle support member ID is a spool 25 on which the cords 2| are wound. Anchored as indicated at 26 to the central member In and to the spool 25 as indicated at 21 is a coil spring 28. Within the lower end of the spool 25 are ratchet teeth 29 adapted to be engaged by a pawl 3| having a thumb portion 32 projecting from a slot 33 through the sleeve 5. This pawl 32 is formed of spring material and is retained within openings in the handle support It] by a rivet pin 34 extending to the rod support and connected to the catch |6 to retain it in place within the handle support.

As the cords 2| are drawn downwardly by hand, the cords will be unwound from the spool 25 against the action of the spring 28 tending to resist the rotation of the spool. The spool will be retained by the ratchet 3| to any position to which it has been rotated. The spring will accordingly be wound so that upon release of the pawl 3| from the ratchet 29, the spool will be rotated in a direction to wind up the cord 2| and to lift the umbrella shield. This is done when it is desired to close the umbrella. The shield will accordingly be drawn into the umbrella top and as the umbrella is closed it will be contained within the top in a compact and symmetrical manner. The catch l6 will accordingly be depressed and the slide l drawn downwardly whereby to bring the top about the shield. The shield I8 can be divided at 35 so that the same can be opened and the overlapped ends can be secured together by snap fastener elements 36 and 31. A shield 38 is extended over the spring 28 and the spool 25 to retain the parts and to prevent them from becoming entangled with the fabric and shield material. Slots 39 are provided in the shield 38 for the passage of the cords 2| therethrough.

In Fig. 5, there is shown a modified form of mechanism for adjusting the shield. There is provided a hollow central handle support 4| through which is extended a cable or cord 42 adapted to be wound upon a reel 43 at the lower end of the handle support. A handle is connected to the reel as indicated at 44 and is turned to cause the reel to be turned for the winding up of thecable 42. A set screw :35 is adapted to engage the side of the reel 43 whereby to retain the reel in anyone of its adjusted positions.

At the upper end of the central member 4| there are a plurality of slots 45 having pulleys 41 therein over which are extended respectively cords 48 which connect with the frame pieces l3 and the shield 18 in the same manner as above described. These cords '58 re united as indicated at 49 with the central cable 32.

The shield will be extended under the weight of the cords 48 and the weights thereon upon the set screw 45 being released. At this time the handle tc will turn freely. Thereafter, if it is desired to raise the shield 58, the handle piece 4 is turned and the cable G2 will be wound upon the reel 43. The set screw 25, when tightened upon the reel 43, will retain the shield I8 at any desired height.

It should now be apparent that there has been provided a simple mechanism for handling a shield which can be secured to the outer portions of an umbrella top whereby the same can be elevated and retained at any height and whereby the raising of the same may be done automatically by a spring upon the simple depression of a pawl from engagement with ratchet teeth on a spool. It should further be apparent that the device for retaining the shield is of simple construction and will take up little space within the umbrella and that the shield will be systematically and symmetrically folded as the device is released to raise the shield as when it is desired to use the umbrella without the shield or when the umbrella is to be folded up.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of my invention, What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a foldable umbrella comprising a central handle support, a top adjustable upon the support between raised and lowered positions, a shield of flexible material connected to the outer portions of the umbrella top and adapted to be extended downwardly over the person using the umbrella to protect him from the sides, and 2. raising mechanism for the shield carried on the handle rod support and including cables extending outwardly for attachment to the shield whereby upon the operation of the mechanism the shield may be raised into the umbrella top, said mechanism on the central handle support comprising a spool connected thereto to rotate thereon, a coil spring connected between the handle support and the spool and adapted to be wound as the cords on the spool are unwound to be extended for the lowering of the shield, and releasable means engaging with the spool to normally retain the spool against the action of the spring and while the shield is lowered, said mechanism being operable upon the release of the spool to cause the shield to be automatically raised into the umbrella top.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1 and said releasable means comprising ratchet teeth formation on the spool, a pawl adapted to engage the ratchet teeth formation on the spool, said handle support having a slot into which the pawl may be depressed to disengage the same from the ratchet teeth formation of the spool.

FERRUCCIO MARTINI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 300,993 Marvin June 24, 1884 321,722 Herron July '7, 1885 465,084 Kaufert Dec. 15, 1891 734,311 Ferroussat July 21, 1903 1,072,340 Liljegran Sept. 2, 1913 

